Gordon Ramsay is a global sensation, with his amazing cooking skills backed up by a
fierce temper and an impressive arsenal of insults. However, it may surprise you to know
that Ramsay isn’t quite as mean as he seems. We brushed up on our Ramsay research to show
you the top 10 reasons why Gordon Ramsay is actually a really nice guy!
Gordon Ramsay Helping Out the UnderDog
On the hit television show MasterChef, Ramsay is the judge to impress with his tough persona
and incredibly high standards. It’s far more common to see him shouting at a lackluster
contestant or grimacing at a subpar dish, but sometimes he lets his soft side shine
through. During a particularly difficult season of the show, Ramsay saw the potential in a
19-year-old contender named Gabriel Lewis. Lewis was excelling in the competition and
made it to the top seven contestants before he made an unimpressive dish of cannelloni
which saw him eliminated from the show. While Lewis fought to come to terms with the end
of his journey, Ramsay stepped up with a generous offer: although Lewis’ time was up on MasterChef,
Ramsay was going to personally pay for Lewis to attend post-secondary training for culinary
education. Lewis was overwhelmed with Ramsay’s kind offer and accepted it with enthusiasm.
Ramsay’s act also spurred fellow judge Aarón Sanchez to offer Lewis a job after he graduates.
Lewis went on to attend Johnson and Wales University to progress as a chef, and Ramsay
kept his promise by covering all of the young man’s educational expenses. Ramsay may try
to intimidate the contestants on his shows, but he was unable to stop himself from helping
out a young chef in need when he met Lewis.
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Ramsay on Reddit
Knowing that many of his fans were bursting with questions to ask him, Ramsay hosted a
Reddit Ask Me Anything segment in 2015 where he could connect and chat with his gigantic
fan base. Users were eager to ask Ramsay tons of questions, from how Ramsay prefers to take
his eggs to what he really thinks about the Michelin star system. Things got a little
more serious when another chef hopped into the conversation to ask Ramsay how he dealt
with all the negative aspects of being a young chef. From his personal admissions, the Redditor
was working hard in the back of a celebrated restaurant, but instead of doing the cooking
he was responsible for more of the behind the scenes food prep, and he was growing tired
of it. Ramsay was surprisingly candid with the struggling chef, sympathizing with his
plight and offering the best advice he could. Ramsay suggested that the man take some time
to himself instead of simply burning out. Ramsay reminisced about his own frustrations
as an up and coming chef, and how he had to retreat from the hardcore restaurants and
find himself again while working as a chef on a private boat. He also asked the chef
to send him a resume so that Ramsay could try and give him a different kind of work
experience and help him find his true passion. Ramsay ended his passionate reply by imploring
the man to never give up and to realize just how strong he is.
Ramsay’s Motivational Speech
Gabriel Lewis wasn’t the only MasterChef contestant who Ramsay had a soft spot for.
Christine Ha was a contender during the third season of the show, and she had an extra challenge
participating as the only visually impaired competitor. With her amazing cooking skills
and impressive palette, Christine went on to win the season of MasterChef and release
her own cookbook. Her rise to the top was not easy, however, as she questioned her own
abilities during a MasterChef cooking challenge in which the participants had to create the
best pie possible. Christine struggled throughout the challenge and feared the worst when she
presented her apple pie to Ramsay for judging. As Christine couldn’t see her final creation,
she admitted to Ramsay that she thought her pie looked like a mess. Ramsay was quick to
reassure her, describing just how delicious her pie truly looked as he admired it. He
was extremely impressed by the crust and glaze she had achieved and said that she was equally
as talented as her other competitors. Ramsay urged Christine to have faith in herself and
in her abilities and to be bold in her cooking endeavors. Ramsay helped her visualize her
pie by running a knife over the top of the crust so that she could hear that the pie
was cooked thoroughly and had developed a tasty crust. Christine was overcome with emotion
from Ramsay’s kind words as he continued to congratulate her and give her some much-needed
encouragement.
Undercover Ramsay
Ramsay is a huge advocate for sustainable fishing practices and is strongly against
the practice of finning sharks. Shark finning is a type of fishing that has been banned
in numerous countries because of its wasteful nature and negative impact upon the environment.
It is the practice of catching sharks and only cutting off their fins to sell while
throwing the rest of the shark back into the water to slowly die. While filming a television
episode about the issue, Ramsay did some serious investigative work which put his life on the
line. He arrived in Costa Rica where an illicit shark fin trade was being conducted, and managed
to sneak into a fort in which tons of shark fins were being kept. Ramsay was overwhelmed
at the scale of the operation, and fishermen were anxious to stop him from revealing what
he had seen. As Ramsay tried to leave the compound, he was surrounded by angry locals
who poured gasoline over Ramsay and his crew and threatened them with guns. Luckily Ramsay
was able to duck into a car and escape to safety. When he was finally granted access
onto a fishing boat, he stumbled upon a stash of shark fins hidden underneath the deck.
This discovery prompted police to warn Ramsay to leave the country completely, as his investigations
could have led to worse and even fatal attacks from the locals who relied on the shark finning
trade.
Ramsay’s Got Your Back
Ramsay may be better known for his scathing food reviews that he posts on Twitter users’
meals, but he also uses the social media site for good. In September of 2015, a young man
named Aaron Merry reached out to Ramsay on Twitter in search of advice. Merry explained
that he suffered from epilepsy, a condition which causes uncontrollable seizures and loss
of consciousness. Merry was working as a chef when he revealed that he had epilepsy, which
resulted in him being fired from the restaurant. When Merry asked Ramsay what he should do
about the situation, Ramsay wasted no time in lending a helping hand. He messaged Merry
back and told the young chef to direct message him so that Ramsay could offer him a job!
Despite his tough facade on television, Ramsay is hiding a heart of gold.
Gordon Ramsay’s A New Man
While shows like Hell’s Kitchen demonstrate how Ramsay has no time for culinary mistakes
or professional blunders, he’s a completely different person when it comes to working
with children. On his show MasterChef Junior, Ramsay is surrounded by the youngest aspiring
chefs, some who are not even a decade old yet! Ramsay is quite the character in the
series, always getting up to crazy antics like letting kids pour tubs of maple syrup
over him or even throwing pies in his face, anything to make them laugh. He gets to show
a lighthearted side of himself as he jokes around with the children and inspires them
to keep working towards their goals. Ramsay’s classic criticisms are watered down with lots
of encouragement and compliments as he helps the children gain self-confidence in their
culinary abilities. As it is still a high stakes competition, there are moments when
the kids become overwhelmed or upset. Ramsay takes these moments in stride, crouching down
with the children and refusing to leave them until they stop crying and give him a big
smile. He’s even been known to run around the kitchen with them in tense situations,
helping them pick out and carry their ingredients back to the tables. When Ramsay is faced with
the difficult task of eliminating these young chefs, he does so with grace and empathy and
assures them that their elimination is not the end of their culinary dreams. While adults
run in fear from Ramsay’s wrath, children adore him!
Generous Gordon
With his numerous Michelin star restaurants, television shows, and other professional engagements,
Ramsay is estimated to be worth as much money as Beyonce! But he doesn’t let the wealth
go to his head, and instead chooses to donate his earnings to a plethora of important charitable
organizations all over the world. In addition to supporting UNICEF and the Elton John AIDS
Foundation, one of the charities that is most important to Ramsay is Women’s Aid. Women’s
Aid is a not-for-profit which supports women and children who have experienced domestic
abuse, which is something that Ramsay himself witnessed as a child. Ramsay’s father struggled
with an alcohol addiction which increased his violent outbursts toward Ramsay’s mother.
Ramsay explained that his father would destroy his mother’s possessions and physically
attack her, to the point where she was hospitalized and Ramsay needed to be taken care of by a
children’s aid organization. This influenced Ramsay, who is now dedicated to giving back
in his own way to support the women and children who need help the most. Ramsay also donates
to the Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity, further revealing his inclination
to help children in need. This hospital specializes in children with severe medical issues which
result in lengthy hospital stays, and Ramsay’s support helps financially assist the families
of these children and purchase the necessary equipment to help them recover. Ramsay may
be a wealthy man, but he contributes to his community and puts his money where his mouth
is.
Ramsay’s Rewarding Race
In addition to all of the money that Ramsay donates to charities, he and his wife Tana
have also established their own charitable foundation, aptly named the Gordon and Tana
Ramsay Foundation. One of the movements that Ramsay’s foundation spearheaded was called
GTR100, in which 100 people registered to train with Ramsay and compete on his team
in the Ironman triathlon. Ramsay is a regular participant in marathons and triathlons all
over the world and was training to be a professional soccer player before he had to switch career
paths due to injuries. Ramsay would be an ideal guy to train with for a triathlon due
to his healthy eating habits and love for exercise. Ramsay has competed in over 15 triathlons
and even has a black belt in karate, making people eager to sign up to compete on his
team. Participants donated entrance fees of over 1000 pounds to Ramsay’s foundation,
and also had to raise at least 2500 pounds to donate to charity in addition to that base
fee. This resulted in a huge charitable donation to the Great Ormond Street Hospital. In return
for everyone’s generosity, Ramsay organized elite training sessions for all of his teammates
and provided them with meet and greet opportunities and hospitality events. At the end, Ramsay
posed for a team photo with his victorious group, exhausted but pleased with having raised
so much for those in need.
Gordon Ramsay Watches His Tongue
One of the things that Ramsay is best known for is his fiery temper on his numerous television
shows. When a contestant riles Ramsay up, it’s common to hear a steady stream of bleeped
out words coming from Ramsay’s mouth as the networks desperately try to censor him.
But believe it or not, Ramsay’s classic penchant for swearing may not be the same
when he is off camera. As we’ve already mentioned, Ramsay turns into quite the softy
when he is around children, and he claims to have never cursed in front of his children.
During an interview with Jimmy Kimmel, Ramsay explains how he’s found a way of avoiding
bad language in his home. Instead of using the real curse words, Ramsay substitutes them
with food-related replacement words! His family-friendly F-word becomes ‘fructose’, and another
well-known expletive is replaced with ‘shitake’, like one of Ramsay’s favorite mushrooms
to cook with. This must make the parents of MasterChef Junior contestants sleep a little
easier, as Ramsay has proven that he can control his language when he is around the youngest
generation!
Ramsay the Family Man
While he may love his culinary career, the thing that is most important to Ramsay has
to be his family. He is an extremely dedicated husband and father, with four children that
he shares with his beloved wife Tana. Ramsay doesn’t believe in spoiling his children
with his celebrity status and ensures that they learn how to support themselves and earn
their way through life, unlike the children of many celebrities. Ramsay also understands
that all of his children may have different talents. He’s spoken out against basing
a child’s worth off of standardized testing scores and has made sure to pass along the
basics of cooking to all of his children so that they can provide for themselves. As Ramsay’s
youngest daughter Matilda seems to be following her father’s footsteps and embracing the
culinary world herself, she and Ramsay have had numerous television experiences together
on cooking shows and in interviews. Ramsay dotes on his daughter and has no problem laughing
and joking with her on national TV, and it's obvious that Matilda adores her dad as well.
They have quite a few comedic moments together, such as when they competed as a team against
James Corden to create the best English breakfast. They each tried to prove that they are the
superior chef and tried to sabotage the other’s efforts, causing the audience to roar with
laughter. Even when he’s being a classic dad Ramsay can still work a room!
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